Chapter 145 – Invaders (5)
There was a glimpse of hope. The powerful strike created by the space fleet’s weaponry and the local magic successfully brought down an enemy that had seemed impossible to contend with until now.
But that was all there was to it. The battlefield was exceedingly unfavorable.
The true strength of the enemies was not a few strong individuals. It was the overwhelming numbers of legions that could cover the lands and skies of this world.
Both Liam, who was watching from within, and Austin, leaning on his staff, sighed as they looked ahead.
“It’s time to end this.”
As commanded by Eve, millions of flying creatures, both large and small, filled the sky and attacked the scene alongside the spaceships.
A fight with no end in sight. However, unlike the legion that had no hesitation, the humans began to tire both physically and mentally.
This new breed, created by combining the data of the acquired Yule species with the genetics of the flying sailfish, had a long body resembling scaly beasts like eels or bony fish, measuring several meters in length.
Designed to act as a kind of artillery moving through the sky like ground-dwelling cursed monsters, they supported the legion’s firepower by firing energy beams from their mouths, breaking the barriers of human ships and deploying legionnaires within.
“Captain… I can’t shake them off.”
“We need to prepare to fight. Still, we just witnessed hope, Amy. Somewhere in this universe, there are people who will fight alongside us against those monsters. If we join forces with them, it’s very possible. Humanity will not fall.”
Muttering to himself, Liam grabbed a large firearm.
The surroundings were a chaotic mess. The escort ships that had been with them were exploding or crashing one by one, overwhelmed by monsters, and there were three enemy vessels currently wrapped around the command ship with their tentacles.
“First Officer. Set the self-destruct timer.”
“Engine room overload settings complete.”
“Then let’s go.”
He deliberately set the engine room of the command ship to overload and left the command room with his armed subordinates. They headed toward the place where Austin was standing outside.
“Damn it, it’s truly annoying.”
He looked up at the sky and grimaced in disgust.
There was no place without monsters. It was dense, as if they were in a forest made of beasts. Right above, an enemy vessel with extending tentacles was firing beams from close range to completely break the ship’s barrier.
“So what are those?”
“When the ship’s shield suffered a minor crack earlier, those entered through that breach.”
Liam’s gaze turned toward the front, to the bow. New enemies stood where the black-winged creature had crashed after a critical hit. All his subordinates held their weapons rigidly.
“I’m seeing something I’ve never seen before… There hasn’t been any prior reports.”
“They have appeared in our data a few times. Although the instances have been extremely rare, it doesn’t matter now. Judging by their appearance, they seem to be a command entity classified as a captain-level threat.”
Liam, who chuckled at Austin’s nervousness, loaded his firearm.
Behind the red-glowing mask, another humanoid creature silently watched them.
It had no wings, and its long, thick black hair hung down to almost its lower back—a being that had not been detailed so far.
“That’s our enemy.”
Taking a deep breath, Liam was the first to pull the trigger.
“Fire!”
“Shoot!”
Following them, other crew members and Austin attacked the enemy using magic.
“Will this work?”
Liam kept pulling the trigger.
The opponent deflected all their attacks using a purplish-red barrier. Of course, such shooting was a decoy. The real attack would come from a railgun that had one last shot left, just in case.
Austin and he exchanged glances for a fleeting moment.
“Now!”
Austin once again cast a magic amplification field in the air.
The railgun’s bullet passed through that amplification field, absorbing the mana and transforming into a flash of light.
Its power was enough to pierce the barrier of the creature, which had the strongest output relative to its mass among the legion, in one instant.
This time, they flew unimpeded toward what they estimated to be its weak point—the chest.
“What the…?”
However, as the following scene unfolded, Liam felt a momentary freeze in his brain.
“It split in half, the bullet!”
Austin explained the situation.
By now, the enemy, holding a sword, was burning with a crimson aura while having sliced the flash in half.
“There must be hope, right?”
As the enemy stepped forward after dodging the sword, Liam gritted his teeth.
Once again, bullets and magic rained down, while the long black hair fluttered in the wind. The final battle between the rampaging creatures and the humans was underway.
A clash between the desperate and the ruthless. In the process, the blood that splattered and the screams that erupted belonged solely to one side.
Yet they fought until the very last one.
“Cough… would you die willingly, just like that?”
Liam, who was impaled by Austin and now bleeding from the powerful grip on his collar, struck the mask with his fist.
Naturally, his fist tore and broke, but he didn’t care.
“You die here too.”
Feeling that the engine room’s overload was about to blow, he grinned.
And then the massive explosion swept everything away.
The impact was enough to crush kilometers-long class ships into pieces, consuming everything in the flames as it spread outward.
At this moment, the last remnants of humanity in Eden were disappearing, marking a moment that held great significance for many.
Now, the true ruler of this world was finally revealed.
Just like when the devolution species perished on REDRIUM, only one master would remain in this world.
‘…?!’
‘You didn’t die, Liam. Shall we have a talk?’
And at that moment, despite feeling he should have been shattered and burned to death, Liam was shocked to hear a voice ringing in his consciousness.
*
“The game has passed through various branching points. As it has always done.”
In the dark space, amidst a suffocating silence, someone continued speaking softly, the sound of clicking heels echoing.
“As you all know, the game is merely a device, and its true purpose lies elsewhere. Units, players, outsiders—ultimately, they all become stronger and communicate, grow in size, and… evolve.”
Her voice, representing them, was unwavering, adorned with a pair of black horns on her head.
From within the masks of everyone standing still, a glimmer of light shone from their eyes.
“Fighting and competing against each other is also an important component of growth. Perhaps it may even be the most crucial. Until now, the entity that monopolized victory in this game has been a war avatar wielding endless gluttony and evolution as weapons. The second strongest have all been those who competed against the winner until the very end.”
What she was saying now, everyone present knew.
“However, this cannot be allowed to repeat. The ultimate victor has devoured and destroyed not only the ‘true enemies’ but this world itself. That is meaningless. The game, the sacrifices, even war.”
“Even so, the situation flowing right now is similar to before. At this rate, the outcome will be the same.”
Someone countered in a mechanical voice. It was devoid of any emotion.
From their standpoint, they already knew all the results, and this meeting was just another routine activity repeating itself.
Both the winners and the losers were aware of it, as was the process itself. The dynamics with which they reacted were bizarrely odd.
In an instant, countless gazes turned to one among them—an ordinary man standing silently without any expression.
“Even so, we must continue.”
Noticing those gazes, she stopped her clicking and spoke firmly.
No one refuted her words. They were united solely by a sense of mission. They were the ones who had adorned and intervened in the primal rules to come this far.
“Like me, the primal players… let’s hope this time for a different outcome. May another version of us finally achieve true victory.”
By the end, her voice, once calm, trembled slightly.
An endless repetition. Yet there was no completely identical future. The issue was merely that trivialities could not change the larger branches.
‘The beginning of the true force conflict triggered by the units. This great war is the only opportunity.’
Returning to the room, he turned the screen back on. Unlike others, he had only two: a player and a unit.
Reading their thoughts was now a piece of cake.
But he had already long stopped intervening and guiding them. At this point, it held no meaning.
‘Incompetent. Then and now.’
At that moment, he covered his masked face with his hand.
In the end, he could only wait and hope for a slight change that could serve as a variable in the unit’s mindset. And that slight variable would cause a butterfly effect to change the outcome.
It pained him that he could not help them. It had always been that way, but with each iteration, the beings from the previous cycle simply vanished.
It was unbearable. Even wishing for their happiness always led to rampages, rage, sorrow, and destruction.
[Check the agents planted in the Alliance. They seem to be watching something.]
He sighed deeply as he typed the message.
